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Macromolecules 2006, 39, 7170-7173
Notes Manifold Assembly for the Convenient Polymerization of Ethylene Oxide and Butadiene Gre´ goire Cardoen, Kurt Breitenkamp, Todd Emrick, and E. Bryan Coughlin* Polymer Science and Engineering Department, UniVersity of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 ReceiVed June 20, 2006 ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed August 4, 2006 Introduction Working with gaseous compounds presents technical challenges not commonly encountered when using solutions and solids. Because of their volatility and potential toxicity, special equipment needs to be designed for safe handling of gaseous chemicals. Ethylene oxide (EO) and 1,3-butadiene (BD) are two examples of gaseous monomers at room temperature. Typically, these two gaseous monomers are handled in expensive highpressure stainless steel reactors or under high vacuum using custom-made glassware.1 Both monomers can be polymerized by “living” anionic polymerization to afford polymer with predictable molecular weight and low polydispersity (
